On Friday, Chris Mai of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities documented some remarkable numbers[1] related to American support for public education. As her chart below shows, North Carolina’s dwindling support parallels a disturbing national trend:

“Local governments added 20,000 education jobs in the month of August, the Labor Department reported[2] today. That’s good news, but schools remain in a big hole from the recession: local school districts still have 297,000 fewer jobs than in August 2008 (see chart).

[3]

This means that, even as K-12 enrollment has risen — by 800,000 students between the fall of 2008 and fall of 2013, according to the Education Department[4] — schools have fewer teachers, librarians, principals, guidance counselors, nurses, and other staff to help them.

Instead of setting our students up for success at the start of a new school year, we’re giving them less support than just a few years ago.